midwife appointments - is this normal?

Carmina_Piranha_3

ours tend to ring straight after your 12 week scan and get cross if you can't arrange to see them within a few days because they want bloods taken at 12 weeks.

domestic_goddess

I never aw my midwife until i was 14 weeks and I thnk that is pretty much the norm around here.

nadnad

i saw my doc at 5 weeks and when I was leaving the receptionist told me i had to make another appointment which was for a week later. apparently the midwife at my doctors surgery is off on long term sick leave, I dont think my doctor really knows what shes supposed to do - well actually she told me as much. because when i went backin for the second appointment she looked at me like i was mad -didnt know why i was there - i said the receptionist told me - and this is all new to me so i do as im told! i think that was meant to be my booking in appointment but the doc didnt know what she was at so she didnt do anything other than check my blood pressure!
i dunno whats happening.
and yes i worry a lot too initially approx every minute. now im down to about once an hour. im told its normal!

Justie

I had a scan at 12 weeks and saw the midwife at 14 weeks for my booking appointment - usually it's earlier here but they messed up the appointment and I had to phone to remind them I hadn't heard anything. It's not a big deal though but it helps reassure you. If you have a healthy pregnancy then you won't see many medics as there's little need. Here though they have a very good unit and if you've had a history of miscarriage or have had fertility problems then scans etc are available much earlier.

ab7167

Ah, that's OK then. I'll be 12 weeks when I have the dating scan on the 19th (if my dates are right), but I'm then on holiday for 2 weeks (which I have told the mw), so if I don't get an appointment before holiday, I will be nearly 15 weeks before I see anyone. Just very different to a friend of mine who lives round the corner, but uses different GP - she was seen at 6 weeks and again at 12.

I seem to be very healthy, no morning sickness at all, just a bit tired but I have had a cold this week which won't help. Still running and using the gym, and historically have very low blood pressure, don't smoke, eat lots of veg - so I'm really hoping I have an easy time - as job is pretty stressful and busy.

No history of problems in the family, but we haven't told grandparents yet, so there may be things we're not aware of.

Guess I'll just have to wait and see! If I haven't heard anything by the time I come back from holiday, I'll probably start making a fuss...

Thanks for the advice,

Ali

zztopgirl

inkie wrote: »

Hello

Just thought i'd offer some professional slant on this (yes, i'm a trained midwife). According to my personal practice, most bookings would be done between 7 and 10 weeks, of course we get the odd one coming to book further advanced, as they didn't realise that they were pregnant, but the earlier the better as far as I am concerned. I can then build up a relationship with the women and get to know her and her family at the significant life-chnaging event. It also enables me to put into place any special considerations, gain all of the information needed to plan care, and allows for all those silly questions (which arn't silly at all btw ) to be asked.

As for the scan issue - the only scan that is really needed is the 20 week anomaly scan and then possible further ones as a result of this (if placenta is low-lying, or if there are issues with growth redardation). I like to see people in their homes as they are much more relaxed, saves with child-care issues perhaps for second-time plus mums, and reinforces that for the the majority of women, they are undergoing a normal physiological process, not somethig that has to be medicalised.

Why cant all midwives be like you? You sound a lovely mw:T I had to drag my eldest all the way to hospital for the booking in app. which lasted barely 5 minutes, we spent a long time waiting and had to get a total of 4 buses. There was nobody else at the clinic and i ended up very stressed and flustered. The only times ive had mw coming to see me at home is after both births.

choccyface2006

We only have one scan here - at 20 weeks. Booking in is usually 10-14 weeks and regular midwife appointments only really kick in about 28 weeks, until then you have to wait quite a while between appointments.

Sarah

nadnad

it all seems very different in england than northern ireland. i know that any of my friends who have been pregnant say that they see the GP/midwife at least every 4 weeks up until 30 -32 weeks then every 2 weeks and for the last 4 weeks every week.

Carmina_Piranha_3

i have a 9 year age gap between my children and with my first there were lots of midwife appointments and even a kick chart for the later weeks. i think there's a move towards pregnancy being seen as normal, and not an illness.

while i rarely saw anybody with my second baby i always had a number i could call if i was worried, and i went to hospital a few times (for dehydration). support is there if there's a medical problem but until 24 weeks i didn't really see much of anyone.

before the booking in you can see a GP if you're worried. as the pregnancy progresses you'll have more appointments and i think you get seen once a week in the final month, or once a fortnight.

i don't know if it's the same everywhere but here we get a booklet for pregnancy notes and the midwife writes a list of who you will see and when, so when you've been booked in you'll have a better idea and won't feel so stranded *HUGS*

funky-footprints

this time round i didnt see a midwife until i was 14 weeks, (she turned up at 9pm on a Friday night, I was in my pjamas off to bed) i got my first scan at couple of days later, but because of my history I arranged a private scan with Bupa as i couldnt wait any longer. I never saw a GP to confirm my pregnancy I was told there was no need.
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